The Flower
by Moonlit Queen
Summary: That was the moment that I first realized how cruel the world truly was. Our lives didn't hold any meaning anymore, we were nothing. We were slaves now; we were forced to forget our pasts, dreams, and accomplishments. We were supposed to become a clean slate for our masters to abuse us with. No longer would I be the Noel everyone had known to exist.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Life used to seem so incredibly perfect in the village that I had always known that resided in the mountains. I found that this all changed once men from the cities found this utopic place I called home. They raided, slaughtering and taking everything in their path. Resistance wasn't the key to your survival. My Grandmother heard the alarms and quickly shook me awake to tell me that she loved me and to do as I was told, no matter how harsh it was. It was better to do what they wanted, than to have me die in front of her. That's how I found myself on a wagon filled with other people of my kind and how I started the painful journey that I would call my own life.

The wagon ride to the city was in no way considered glorious. They barely cared about us, as long as we didn't all die in the process they thought that any behavior they chose for us would be acceptable. I remember one beautiful woman I had talked to once before, shook and trembled as one man talked about finding a 'whore' in the back that he'd be able to fuck during a break. I could tell she was usually a woman who used to smile frequently due to the lines were etched around her cheeks and lips. I looked at her slowly, trying to comfort her without talking or shaking the chains that bound us all. She seemed to appreciate my effort and tried to give a slight forceful smile, even though the tears were visible in her eyes. I couldn't look at her any longer because each time I did a painful stab to my chest would plunge through me. I felt useless. How could I comfort someone else when I couldn't even keep my own fear controlled?

The hours rolled by, but it only felt like minutes before a man in all black robes with a mask over his face opened the back of wagon. He scanned us all through his intense gazes before finding his victim. I guessed that he was probably the man that referred to fucking 'whores' when they took a break. He chose the girl I had tried to comfort; her gorgeous smile lines became a saddened frown. All of my hopes and dreams shattered with her. As I could hear her screams I could also feel her emotional distress. Was this all our lives would become? Would we be sold just to be someone else's toys? I cringed at the thoughts and tried to focus on what life used to be. I blocked out the girl, the other villagers around me, and anything else that was currently around my location. I had to or else I wouldn't even survive the torturous journey with my soul intact, but my innocence was forever gone. And Innocence is something inside of you that you can never get back once it has left.

My eyes closed slowly as I prayed to a goddess that everything that I was experiencing was only just a horrid nightmare; that in reality I was asleep with my grandmother running her fingers through my hair to calm me from this dream. I repeated this prayer dozens of times, so it eventually felt like it could be reality as I drifted into a sleep. I dreamed of what life would be like if these raiders never came to the village in the mountains.

I imagined that the children would be playing with the animals that they would be watching over, hunters would be getting ready for the celebration that would occur in a few days. I saw myself among these hunters; finally I would be of the age where I could join them, eighteen and a half. I would ready my dual swords as the commander would tell us that we would be going into a forest that was near the outskirts of our village. The excitement would wash over me; the obvious effect over my face.

My grandmother would see me from our home and she would wave with her friendly smile present. I would blow her a kiss and whisper that I loved her under my breath; hoping that the wind would carry my message to her. The drum signifying it was time to hunt would beat and I would turn my heels with the rest of the warriors and disappear into the green nature. Life would seem so perfect, all my dreams and hopes would have been in the future that these men took away from me. I could only imagine what the others around me had stolen from them.

My eyes shot open as I felt a harsh tug at my brown shoulder-length hair. I let out a sharp cry as he dragged me out of the cramped wagon, my feet barely adjusting to walking on the stone terrain. He pushed me toward the others that were lined up; I joined them silently.

"We present you these slaves. Use them as you desire, whether that's for house work, games, or my personal favorite, being your personal whore. Buy them for what their lives were always supposed to be."

That was the moment that I first realized how cruel the world truly was. Our lives didn't hold any meaning anymore, we were nothing. We were slaves now; we were forced to forget our pasts, dreams, and accomplishments. We were supposed to become a clean slate for our masters to abuse us with.

I saw the people of my old home and life being sold left and right. I tried not to think about it, but no matter how much I wanted to push those thoughts of never seeing them again away, they kept coming at me like an arrow. Each one that I saw sold, shot pain through my chest. The man finally came to me, Noel Kreiss.

"How much can I get for this beautiful boy?"

His crooked smile made me nauseous. The anxiety became overbearing. No longer would the Noel everyone had known exist, I would be nothing; I would die as this. The numbers kept increasing as people fought for the stopping price.

"99,000 gil."

The audience became silent; no one else said anything for over three seconds. Before I knew it I was sold. The man with the crooked smile pushed me forward to the two people I'd be calling 'Master'.

**AN:**

**Hey, this story is not going to be very light, as you may be able to tell, so if you cringe at dark and more mature themes please back away now. I was really inspired by those awesome shows about history *cough* Spartans... are cool... and wanted to have a take on what it may have been like for some of the slaves back then. This story is a Caius x Noel x Yeul story (not any true threesome scenes in here, but more like a complicated love triangle... I guess). Lastly, I hope you enjoyed, and no worries I still like you even if you don't read another word of this story (:**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I could see a faint smile under the woman's hood before she removed it. She had long coral hair that flowed slightly passed her lower back. She had beautiful green eyes that showed a slight emotion. She was extravagant and the white cloak complimented her head to toe. I breathed in excitedly, but then I remembered the stipulations of our first meeting. I knew I would never again receive the same communication that I had when I lived in the village. I remembered that as a slave it was bad to look your masters in the eye or speak to them without permission, or so I had heard during the time I spent in the capturer's wagon.

The man remained mysterious to me until later, but at that point I wasn't too concerned about him because I was too busy looking at the sight of the girl in front of me. The man turned and started walking off, which motioned the woman and I to follow him. It was like once I saw her all of my fear and nervousness faded; I wanted to thank her for that. I was glad that even though I had just endured hell that there weren't all bad things in my future, or so I hoped.

We stopped at another wagon, a little more decorative than the last. The wheels weren't made of wood, but a stronger material, like the ones that were used to create swords. The two horses in the front were both pure white; not a spot of dirt could be seen on them. I was glad to see that they had the decency to treat their animals with respect. As we rode I could hear slight talking coming from the two of them. She had a pure voice, kind of angelic if you asked me. He on the other hand had a deep and intimidating voice, but it still sounded slightly beautiful. I was a bit jealous of how his voice was; I bet it could have seduced anyone. I didn't fall asleep on this ride because I was frightened to be woken up with a brutal beating for the action. I was lucky that the first man only tugged me and hadn't beaten me with a stone before I even reached the line. This ride seemed to go fast, most likely because I was in deep thought about the woman. She was quite enchanting, but I knew that nothing could ever become of us, since a master and a slave being in a true love relationship would never be socially accepted.

"Throw away all of your emotions kid, it'll help you when you get there."

What a valuable piece of advice, something I wish that I had put more at the front of my thoughts. The horses stopped and I waited for my masters to say something or command me. It only was a few minutes before the woman told me that we were there and to follow her. Their house was mystical. There were gardens and elaborate decorations on nearly every wall. They seemed to be spiritual in some ways because on one wall there was a painting of the goddess, Etro. It made me feel like I wasn't too far from my actual home.

"Yeul, a word please."

The woman followed him into another room, while I stayed and unintentionally listened in. I couldn't make out everything that they were saying, but I came to the conclusion that they were not agreeing on what to do with me.

"You are the one who wanted him, Yeul."

"Yes, but I don't want to treat him like he's nothing. He looks like he's been through a lot already; I don't want his life to be miserable. "

"Yeul, do you even understand what the point of slaves are?"

"Caius, would you please just… listen. Look him in the eyes, he's been through a lot. It'd be a shame to make a boy as beautiful as him, to go through the life of a 'slave' through your definition of one."

I sensed the frustration that the man, Caius must have been going through, but it was at that moment when I decided that Yeul must've really been an angel that fell from the sky. I zoned from the rest of their conversation, but she must've given in to one thing Caius said, because the next thing I knew he grabbed my wrist and dragged me to another room. I saw Yeul from the corner of my eye, she mouthed 'I'm sorry', as Caius tugged me through different rooms.

"Listen boy, I gave in to most things she said, but just because she doesn't want to treat you like you are just a low slave, doesn't mean that you aren't one. Since you are one, you at least need to be branded."

I didn't understand what he meant by branding, but I figured that it must be a painful process, when he grabbed a cloth and gagged me with it. He tied the part that wasn't in my mouth around the back of my neck and he pushed me down to my knees slowly. He touched my cheek, I glared at him dangerously. He whispered in my ear slowly.

"Try not to scream too loud."

He grabbed a scorching hot rod and looked me straight in the eyes. Forcefully he grabbed my left wrist, while I tried to pull away from him, but he was stronger than I was. The flaming rod came into contact with my skin, my eyes filling with tears as the pain surged through my wrist. I tried to cry out as the cloth muffled my scream. I could feel warm tears rolling down my cheeks. I should have expected that he'd do this to me; I knew that he'd be the master that I wouldn't want to ever piss off. If he treated me like this without saying anything, could you imagine what he could do if I ever did anything wrong? It felt like a lifetime before the rod turned cold and was finally removed from my aching wrist. I looked down through my wet lashes and saw the mark that would be forever etched into my tanned skin. Right on my left wrist, there would forever be a 'C' with an upside down 'Y' surrounded with a circle. He grabbed my chin; our lips too close for comfort.

"I'll warn you of one thing that will certainly make me beat you until you are black and blue. Don't ever touch her, are we clear?"

I nodded, feeling even more lost, confused, and hurt than I had ever been before.

** A/N: Hey, hey again. My friend kept bugging me to write more, so here I am... anywho, I hope you liked this chapter... so bye for now, I guess. Review please, because I like to read comments.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters... forgot to put that in the first chapter... might go back to fix that**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He left me there, alone to cope with my sorrows. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted my old life back, but I knew that that wish was a vain hope. Even if I was able to go back, nothing would ever be the same as it had been and the same faces I had known would be forever lost to the village. I sat there wondering if anyone who still remained in the village remembered who I was. I wanted to tell myself that they were searching for us, but I knew that they had already accepted that we were among the lost; the ones to never return. I stared at the mark on my wrist again, my tears started to dry on it. The sad reminder that my life was a meaningless hell, I was nothing more and nothing less. I heard petite footsteps pacing towards me. I could see Yeul from my peripheral vision. I could see that she was moved by my current situation, she probably just felt sorry for me. Her knees hit the floor beside me as she curled her arms around me.

"I'm sorry, Noel. I truly am, I know it all must be hurting you."

She whispered softly in my ear. Her warm breath sent goose bumps down my arms and legs. I heard a slight muffled cry, as the tears she held in for me broke loose. Even though we hadn't known each other long, we seemed to have some sort of connection. I realized that she must have had an experience that related considering she seemed to care so immensely about the pain that I was feeling deep inside of me. I wrapped the un-marked hand around her frail fingers; intertwining our fingers as I did so. I needed someone to just hold my hand in that instant. I didn't think too much about what I was doing. She gasped slightly at the sudden motion; however she didn't withdrawal from me quickly. We stayed like that for a few minutes, until she slowly stood up and offered her hand out to me. My eyes were glued to hers as I took her hand to stand.

"Come, I won't treat you like you aren't a person, even if you are a slave. It's not fair, no matter what Caius believes. I know he's wrong about you, but please don't hate him for how he is towards you, it takes him a little bit to warm up to new people."

I tensed at the mention of his name. How could I be expected not to hate him? Did she see how he treated me from the second they bought me? A better question would have been, how could she be so in love with a man like him? Did he even care about her, or anyone?

"Noel, please he's not as horrible as he seems… he really is a good man."

She glanced back at me and smiled, trying to convince herself that everything she had said was true. I shook the thoughts of Caius away from me because I didn't want to infect my mind with curiosity about him. It was unlikely that the way Caius and I felt about each other would change.

"I can't promise anything."

I muttered under my breath and hoped that Yeul didn't hear what I had said. She didn't say anything to me after that, so I assumed she hadn't. It was strange that once she stopped talking, I had already missed her sweet and quiet voice. She led me to a dining room that had a beautiful stone floor with a sun mural hand-painted on it. The ceiling had a moon mural; it was different than what you'd usually expect, since the sun was usually painted on ceilings to represent the glory of morning. In the middle of the room, Caius sat at a huge wooden table with about a dozen chairs set in certain places. In my village most people had a low to the ground table that we sat around on our knees. It was a glorious change of pace. Caius had a smirk on his face as he stared through Yeul and straight into my soul. I wanted to wipe that expression off of his face, but I knew that if I ever crossed him he'd kill me without asking for Yeul's consent. Besides, I wanted to be different than him. I wanted to respect all of her wishes because I never wanted to hurt her. I could still hear the threat he had whispered to me through his smirk. Yeul was off limits and I swore to him that I understood this, but yet I wasn't so sure if I could keep that.

"Noel, would you like to sit here, you will eat here … at the table with us."

"A word please… Yeul."

"Caius, if you have anything to say, please go ahead and say it."

"I wouldn't want to offend our newfound guest."

He said this in a sarcastic way. It seemed to me that he loved throwing out the fact that I was below him every chance that he had. I looked down, already feeling tired of the situation I was in. Yeul smiled at him and kissed his cheek, which made me cringe. I turned away out of jealousy. Yeul told us she'd go get the food and left Caius and I alone for a few minutes. We glared at each other dangerously. The hatred inside of me raging, I wanted to scream at him, but I had to control my attitude.

"How does it feel to not be treated like an animal? You know if Yeul let me you'd be on your knees, sitting on the floor like a dog, begging for even the smallest scraps. Wasn't that how your people used to eat anyway?"

I had a witty response, until he said the last part. My people begging like animals? He crossed a line that would always make my emotions imbalanced.

"I…I…. would never beg for you!"

"Really now, because looking at you shows me that you are weak. Is that how all of your people are or just you?"

I felt like hitting him to shut him up, but he was right. In this game I couldn't do anything and he knew that. I was showing a weakness because he had the power over me.

"You are a disappointment; remind me why we bought you again?"

"I… I don't know!"

"Did I tell you that you could talk to me, maybe I should punish you for that," his smirk returned before he continued, "I guess we'll be alright if you bow down to beg for forgiveness, while calling me Master."

"M… I will never call you 'Master', nor will I ever think of you as one."

"What did you just say? Do you really want me to put you in your place, boy?"

I looked down and realized that I would just have to accept the defeat. I couldn't do anything about this because I knew everything would just become worse and Yeul wouldn't be happy. I didn't look up until Yeul came back into the room because I didn't want to see his victory that would be written all over his face. She sat down across from Caius and smiled with a toothy grin, and then she looked at me. She didn't know anything about what had just happened, but I bet she could've sensed the tension.

**A/N: Hellooooo there! I'd like to thank my friend for giving me all of these lovely ideas, and of course the first Reviewer, Antirrhinum. Anywho, who knows when the next chapter will be up… soon hopefully!**

**Disclaimer: Again, I don't own these characters…. *sigh***

*****Dear Antirrhinum, I wanted to message you, but I thought it would be cool if I responded to you here. I'm glad that you like it despite the darkness and I'm glad that you like the AU that was created for this story. I wanted to explore the weird love that Noel had/ gains with Yeul and Caius, because when I played the game I always kind of thought that he had feelings for both. Of course, he has different relations with both of them in the game, which is something I wanted to explore in this story as well. It's alright that your response is short, I still appreciate it! Thank you for the encouragement, I hope you continue to read this story. (:**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

***Warning for this chapter: sexuality and pedophilia... I guess…*shifty eyes* Nothing too explicit**

Dinner progressed on without Caius saying many words after our earlier conversation, but that smirk of his was always present. It was like he was waiting for the opportune moment to say something that would yet again set off my emotions. I was right to be suspicious of him doing this, because dinner was almost over and he finally asked the question that he had been plotting throughout it.

"So Noel, I know this might be a hard topic, but I'm interested in the answer."

He glanced at Yeul; she had no changed emotion on her face, so he knew she wouldn't be angered if he proceeded. His cold stare once again was directed toward me.

"Tell me about your family."

It was too soon for him to be asking me this because I was trying to adjust to the emptiness without them in my life. I guess that it was better for him to ask now when I was extremely tender about this subject than if he had waited until years from now and resurfaced old attachments. I could feel my blue orbs become watery, but I wiped it away as quickly as possible; hoping that neither of the two noticed.

"Well, I lived with my grandmother. She was quite supportive of me wanting… to… to become a hunter, just like my father had been. I n…never had the chance to meet my mother."

I had tried to swallow the tears to hold back, but the strain in my voice was noticeable. That was all Caius needed to hear in order to know that this topic would break me. I decided to continue anyway in an attempt to not let him burn my pride.

"Was there a special girl in your life," Yeul asked innocently.

"Well, not exactly. I… I wasn't with anyone, but I'm sure there were people that I could've-"

I stopped, wanting to forget about some people I had those relations with. There was a man I used to look up to. He was like my father's brother or so he would often tell me. He was second- in- command to the hunting chief, which gave him quite a lot of power and authority. I would often visit him to ask him questions and admire his position. I almost lost myself all to a bribe.

"Noel, I could get you to any rank you desire in a month or so, after you are of age to join of course."

I was sitting on his shack floor, while he was sitting on a dark bucket, chewing on a piece of long grass. We often talked like this, but I didn't realize how this time would be different. He knew exactly what I'd do anything for, to be something that my father would have been proud of.

"Of course I know that you'd be willing to do anything for this. Your father would have loved to see the day you climbed the ranks and landed on top, like a true warrior."

"I'd do anything to live up to him."

Mistake one was saying that, but I would have never expected what was to come. He chuckled lightly to himself before proceeding. He moved from his seat and kneeled down.

"Really, are you really willing to do anything for this?"

I was about to reply before he licked the shell of my ear. I was confused and hurt that he would mistake me for this, but I wasn't strong enough to stop that before it began. This was a shattered piece of my past that I was hoping no one would ever recover. My father had grown up with this man and even though my father died when I was young, my father had placed the highest trust he had to give in this one man. I looked up to him like a second father, but there he was using what I wanted as bait to have permission to use me for his own sick pleasures. I wanted attention and what he had to offer badly, but I didn't know if this was what I had been asking for.

With his hands upon my chest and his drunken lips against my neck, I closed my eyes and leaned against him. I didn't know what else to do, so I yielded to this until I could find the inner courage to process what was happening. I opened my eyes again when he was sitting in front of me about to kiss my pink lips. I searched for anything to look at but into his eyes, but I couldn't. He came crashing into my lips, parting them instantly. Was I any better than he was? If my father had been alive and seen this, would he be any less disappointed in me than in him? He caressed my cheeks as the kisses became more desperate. I let out slight breaths that indicated my unwanted pleasure.

"Wait, stop. I… I can't. I don't know what I'm doing."

I pushed him back slightly, trying to separate myself from him. He was stronger than I was, so the push barely did any damage, but he was off of my lips at least. He laughed, as he leaned closer to me again.

"It's okay Noel, I'll lead you."

"No… no that's not what I meant. I mean, what am I doing? What are you doing? My father, mother, and grandmother would be disappointed. "

"Noel, in this world if you want something, it's all about who you know."

"I'm not saying that it isn't, but I don't want to be the one who gains everything by sleeping around with the important people… anyone could do that."

"For Etro's sake Noel, you aren't everyone. We don't even have to continue this after tonight, just one night and I swear I'll get you that position. Isn't that all you've dreamed about?"

"Yes, I've dreamed about making my dead family members proud, but this is not the way I want to get there. I want to get there with my own blood, sweat, and tears. I want to get there through my own determination, not because I slept with you once."

I stood up slowly from his grasp and left without turning back once. I knew I probably had that one shot to get what I wanted quickly, but there would have been no honor in how I got there. That was also the night that the raid happened on my village. I wished things between us had been different on the last night I would see my father's friend, but I also wished that instead of being there I had spent more hours at home with my grandmother. I was naïve then.

"Noel, are you alright? We didn't mean to bring up something that you weren't ready to face."

I looked up to see Yeul with a worried facial expression. I must have not heard her through the memory of one of the regrets of my past. I wasn't able to face it yet; I couldn't even look at the beautiful girl in front of me. There was a wet trail down my face. How I wish I had been a better person when I had the chance to be one. I scurried from the table to a room Yeul had told me I would be sleeping from then on. The bed sheets wrinkled as I sat among it, my hands instinctively moved to rest on my forehead. I always seemed to get myself into situations I couldn't handle.

**A/N: this chapter was tough for me, because I wanted to do some sort of flashback, but I wasn't sure what it should be. After discussing with friends, we decided on this one… I hope you continue to read this story, even if it makes you want to just hug le Noel… actually yeah go hug Noel.**

**P.S: Sorry, this chapter took me a while to update with. I had it written, but for some reason I really couldn't decide if I wanted to change it or not. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters… Square Enix does… except for that 2****nd**** in command guy… he's made up (thank Etro!)**


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